THE NEW FOREST DEER 71 



rose on him. He was taken alive by some fisher- 

 men, who reported the capture to me, supposing 

 that he belonged to the Forest. I hardly knew 

 what to do with him, and sent him off to the 

 Zoological Gardens, where I hope his life was a 

 happy one. Deer were in Norman times the be- 

 all and end-all of the forest. All legislation, 

 customs, and habits of the country were regulated 

 by their welfare. Many of these ancient laws 

 seem very barbarous to us, and, no doubt, when 

 first they were enforced were the cause of un- 

 speakable cruelty. The clause in the Charta de 

 Forestse of Henry III, enacting that " henceforth 

 no man shall lose life or member for taking our 

 deer," has a nasty sound in the ears of those who 

 live in the twentieth century. But for all that, 

 the penalties that remained to be paid, though 

 not so hideous in their barbarism, were terribly 

 severe. 



One of the cruellest enactments was that con- 

 cerning the " expeditation " or "lawing" of dogs. 

 But even this was not quite so bad as it sounds. 

 By the laws of the Forest, a dweller within its 

 verges might keep a small dog "for the protec- 

 tion of his house and chattels." But he might 

 keep no hound or dog of such size that it might 

 chase a deer or fawn with any prospect of success. 



Such a dog, then, by strict law had to be " ex- 



